360 Blu-Ray Still A No-Go

"Microsoft continues to stand against a Blu-Ray drive for the 360 console"

Earlier this month it was reportedthat well-known optical drive manufacturer Lite-On was going to be manufacturing a Blu-Ray drive for Microsoft's Xbox 360. We were curious as to how Microsoft would respond to this news. Well now we have our answer. A Microsoft spokesperson apparantly issued the following statement:

No. Lite-On is not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for Xbox 360. As we have stated, games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.

For our customers who want a premium movie experience we offer the largest library of on-demand HD content available, and the ability to play back DVDs in high definition.

Now this reasoning sounds all well and good, but let's look at this from another standpoint: marketing. DigiTimes has reported that, should Microsoft decide to release a 360 with a built-in Blu-Ray drive, it would likely be selling at a loss. This is due to the fairly large price gap between the current 360 DVD-ROM drive ($18-20) and an OEM BD-ROM drive ($95-100).

There's also yet another possible reason: competition. Blu-Ray was developed by one of Microsoft's chief competitors in the consol market, Sony. Thus, if a Blu-Ray drive was added to the Xbox 360, every console sold would help support their rival, something no company ever wants to do.

Whatever the reasoning, Microsoft seems rather adamant against having a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360. Still, rumors and speculation will likely continue to run rampant, especially considering that many believe the 360 needs the drive to compete with the PS3. Users are not exactly happy that they have to wait 6 hours or more for HD content to download before viewing it on their 360 console, plus there are storage considerations. The top-tier 120GB hard drive can only hold so much when HD movies range in size from 4GB to 8GB.

Do you believe Microsoft is making a sound decision? Will consumer protest drive Microsoft into eating their words?

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